Sheet-feeding machine



Dec. 6, 1927.

C. E. CHRISTOPHEL SHEET FEEDING MACHINE Filed Feb, 25, 192,5

2 Sheets-Sheet .l

km m ra/QW maw Dec. 6, 1927. 1,651,444

, c. E. CHRISTOPHEI.

SHEET FEEDING MACHINE Filed Feb. 25, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l H i I N VEN TOR.

Affi

AT- ORNEYS.

Patented Dec. 6, 1.927.P

` UNITED) STATES l,PATENT OFFICE.

I CARL E. CHRISTOPHEL, OF PEARL RIVER, NEW YORK, A'SSIGNOR TO DEXTER FOLDER comm, or Nnw Yoan, N. Y.,

A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

SHEET-IEEDING HACHIN E.

-appummn mea February as, 1925. serial n. 11,580.

The presentl inventionl is an improvement in sheet-feeding machines, and particularly 'in the mechanism for controlling the', elevation of the pile ofsheets carried vby the sheet sup ort.

Norma y the pile is automatically ele# vated step by step under the control of the governor, and one of the objects of the invention is to provide improved means for v reliminarily adjusting the overnor memr with respect to the top o the pile. Another object of the invention is to provide improved means for actuating the feed pawl 'from a rotating part of the mechanism.

Further, it is frequently desirable to rapidly elevate or lower the pile support either manually or by a motor, 1n which event the elevating means controlledby the governor are disengaged' and the 'pile is elevated by independent manual or motor means. It sometimes ha pens thatwhen thus elevated manually or y independent motor means, the pile support is raised so rapidly and to such an extent as to dama e the mechanism, and, accordingly, anot er object of the invention is to provide means f or automatically and romptly stopping the further elevation of t e pile support after it has Y reached a predetermined height.

The invention.will be better understoodby reference to the accompanying drawings, illustrating one expression of the inventive idea2 and in whichv Flg. 1 is a perspective view of a sheetfeeding mechanism illustrating the invention; A

Fig. 2 is a side elevation corresponding to Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a detail showing the improved strap for actuating the feed pawl.

Referring to the drawings, .wherein like reference numerals indicate like parts, 5 is a continuously rotating member here shown as a ear, and which is driven from any suitab e source of power as throu h a pinion 6 mounted on a shaft 7, which latter also carries a bevel gear 8 meshi. a similar bevel gear that is rotated by a connection 9. The gear 5 carries on its face a pin 10 that engages in an elongated slot 11 of a connecting rod 12, one end of which is connected at 13 to the free end of a support 14 is also provided with a curved surface 18'. and with a recess 19, in which recess there normally engages the free end of a dog 2O pivoted at 21 to the frame of the machine. -This dog normally prevents clockwise movement of the support 14 when the pile is.a.t the predetermined height and accordingly prevents the operation of the feed pawl 17.

When the dog 20 is elevated out of engagement .with the recessfl9, the su port 14 and the feed pawl 17 may be move to the right as shown in Fig. 1, in order to engage the succeeding tooth on the ratchet wheel 18 to effect rotation ofthe shaft 15 to elevate the pile. e

In order toeifect the elevation of the dog 20 for this purpose, connections are proyided with a governor lever 22 carrying in its free end a governor roller 23, which latter rests on the top of the pile. This governor lever is pivoted at 24 1n the frame 25, and the other arm 26` of said lever is connected to the lower end of a link 27, the up per end of which is connected to the free end of an arm 28 secured to a shaft 29 suitabl mounted in bearings in the frame.

4This shaft 29 is provided with a yoke 30- which is fixedly secured thereto, and loosely mounted on said shaft is a lever 31 which is provided with a lug 32 through which passes a screw 33 that bears at either end against the flanges of the yoke 30. A setscrew 34 is provided to effect a relative rotation between the shaft 29 and the lever 31 in order to adjust the position `of the governor roller 23 with respect to the top `of the pile. This adjustment is provided at a point Where it is readily accessible to the workmen, and any desired change in the relation of the governor roller with the top of the pile may be readily effected.

The lever 31. has mounted' on one arm thereof a 'roller 35 that engages a can?. 36 formed on the face of the gear 5. The other Aarm of said lever is connected to the upper end of a link 37, the lower end of which is provided with an elongated slot 38 in which Aloo enga es a pin 39 carried bythe dog 20. The

rotation of the gear 5 effectsl a periodical be lowered and throuvh the connections de `scribed the dog1 20 w1ll be elevated out of engagement wit the recess 19. Accordingly,

the support 14 and the feed pawl 17 may be moved 1n a clockwise directlon, as seen in Fig. 1, to engage the latter with the next succeeding tooth on the ratchet wheel. This movement of the support 14 toward the righty is effected by the engagementof the pin 10 in the recess 40 att eleft-hand end of the elongated slot 11. Une of the members that bounds the elongated slot is-severed at 42,

in effect constituting said member 11 a s rin arm. When the dog is elevated so t at t e parts are free to be moved to the right, the pressure ofthe free end of the member 11 on the pin 10 is suilicient to carry the support 14 and the pawl17- a distance to the right to effect the engagement of the latter withl the next succeeding tooth on the ratchet. On the other hand, when the dog 20 is intengagement with the recess 1-9, so that the support 14 and the pawl 17 is restrained from movement toward the right, the pin 10 will readily disengage itself from the recess 40 on each rotation of the gear 5. Heretofore, a compression spring has been associated with the su port-14 for effecting the movement of the atter and of the feed pawl to the right, but injury to and breakage of said spring was frequent in the operation of the machine. Tlie provisionof the articular means described obviates the deects and diiiiculties heretofore encountered with respect to the movements of the support 14 and feed aw1417. e

After the pawl as been engaged with the succeeding tooth on the ratchet wheel 18, the rotation of the shaft 15 is effected by the movement 0f the connectin rod 12 to the left under theiniluence of t e pin 10, which at that time engages the left-hand extremity of the slot 11, or in other words engages in the recess.40. The shaft 15, if necessary, has successive feeding movements imparted thereto through the pawl 1-7 and the connections described until the pile has been automatically elevated to its predetermined height by said shaft and the following instrumentalities. y i

It will be observed that the shaft 15l carries a worm 43 which is keyed thereto, said worm 43 engaging with a worm-wheel 44 keyedyto shaft 45. This shaft 45 carries la sprocket wheel 46 around which passes a chain 47, one end of which is connected to the support 48 on whichv is mounted the pil of sheets 49.

It is frequently desirable to elevate or lower `the pile rapidly by manual or motor means independent of the automatic pile elevatincr means. For this purpose there is` provided a motor 50 on the' armature shaft of which is provided a sprocket wheel 51.

around which passes a sprocket chain 52 that also passes around4 a sprocket wheel 53 carried by a shaft 54 mounted in suit.- able bearings in the frame. The shaft 54 carries a gear 55 that is adapted to be` meshed with'v ear 56 or 57 depending on whether'the pi e is to be elevated or lowered. If the pile is to be lowered, the ear 56 is meshed with the gear 55 and if t e pile is to be elevated the gear 57 is meshed with the gear'55. In any event the gear 56 1s a1- waysln mesh with a gear 58 mounted on a driving connection between Ashaft 54 and shaft 61 is through gears 55, 57, 56, 58 and 60. In other words, in the independent elevation of the pile one more gear, 57, is inear is algears 56 troduced into the train, and this wa s in mesh with gear 56. Bt an swings about the stud A59, an this arm 65 has three ositions, a neutral position in which neit ergear 56 nor 57 1s in mesh with 55, a position in which gear 56 is in mesh with 55, and a position in which gear 57 is in mesh with gear 55. The neutral position is that which the parts occupy when the elevation of the pile is being automatically effected through the gear 5 and theconuecting rod 12 and feed pawl '17.

When the pile is to be raised or lowered by motor 50, the feed pawl 17 is automatiA cally disengaged from Vthe ratchet 18, this being effected by means of a slotted arm 66 57 are mounted on a swin -arm 65 that' connected at its lower end "to the part 65 of the swing-arm, and at its upper end passing around a shaft 67. which latter carries an arm 68 rovided with a finger 69 that en gages in t e cam slot 70 of said arm 66. The shaft 67 has also secured thereto a cam member 71 that is engagedV by 'a roller 72 lcarried by the feed pawl 17. The cam slot 7 0 is so shaped as to elevate the cam member 71 when the swing-arm 65 is moved either to the right or to the left, and accordingly the feed pawl 17, under either of these conditions, is raised out of engagement with the ratchet 18. v

In order to prevent injury to the parts should the sheet ,support be elevated too rapidly after the motor 50 starts operating, and in order to insure a prompt disconnection of e motor when the pile has reached a predetermined height, means are provided for au yomatically stopping the motor under these conditions. This interruption of'the electric circuit is preferably effected by a member 73 carried bythe governor lever 22, said member being preferably provided with a roller 74 adapted to engage the pile of sheets when the same has been elevated to said\, determined height by the motor. This member or arm 73 is located as close to the pivot 24 as practical, in order to effect as prompt movement of the connections 27, 28, 29 and l31 as possible to disconnect the motor 50, the lever 31 having connected thereto at 7 5`the upper end of a connecting rod 76 which, on movement of said connections by engagement of the pile with the roller 74, is adapted to break the electric circuit to the motor at 77.

It will thus be seen that in the normal operation of the feeder the eleva-tion of the pile is controlled thropgh the feed pawl 17; and further that, when it is desired to rapidly 'raise or lower the pile, the feed pawl l7 is disconnected and the pile is raised or lowered from the motor 50 through the connections described, means being provided for promptly disconnecting the motor 50 by breakmg the electric circuit to the motor at 77, when the pile has been elevated to the predetermined height, these means being here shown as an arm 73 carrying a roller 7 4 that is engaged by the pileand which, through the connections described, will operate to promptly break the electric circuit at 77.

While for the purpose of illustration, one expression of the inventive idea has been herein shown and described in detail, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied in various mechanical expressions within the limits .of the appended claims.

What is claimed is 1. In a device of the character described, the combination of a pilssupporna motor for elevating the same, cormections between said pile support and said motor, a governor lever engaging the top of the pile, feeding means connected to said governorlever for automatically maintaininv the top of the pile at a predetermined height, a safety device carried by said lever, and connections between said safety device and said motor for disconnecting the motor when it has elevated the pile to a predetermined height.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination of a pile support, a governor lever engaging the top of the pile, meanscontrolled thereby for automatically maintaining the top of the pile at a Vcpredetermined height, a safety-device carrie by said gov` ernor and lever and positioned between the end of said lever and its pivot, independent means for elevating the pile, and connections between said safety device and said independent means for disconnecting the latter when it has elevated the pile to a predetermined height.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination of a pile support, a governor lever engaging the top of the pile, means controlled thereby for automatically maintaining the top of the pile at a predetermined height, a pile engaging member carried by the governor lever intermediate its end and pivot, independent means for elevating the pile, and connections between said member and said independent means for disconnecting the latter when it has elevated the pile to a predetermined height.

4. Ina device of the character described, a pile support, a governor lever engaging the top of the pile, vmea-ns controlled thereby for automatically maintaining the top of the pile at a predetermined height including a Shaft, means for periodically raising the governor lever as successive sheets are being fed off, said means including a cam-actuated lever pivotall connected with said shaft and means or adjusting the angular relation between said shaft and said cam-actuated lever.

5. In a device of the character described, a sheet support, means for automatically maintaining the top of the pile at a predetermined height, including a shaft, a ratchet wheel mounted thereon, a feed pawl, a rod connected at one end to said pawl, means engaging the other end of said rod to move said pawl and including a pin, said rod being provided with an `elongated 'slot and having a spring arm engaging said pin.

6. In a device of the character described, the combination of a rotating member provided with a pin, a rod provided with an elongated slotin which said pin engages, said rod .havin a spring member engaging said pin, a sha t, a ratchet mounted thereon, a sheet support, means connected with the shaft and said sheet su port fory elevatin vthe latter on rotation o the shaft, a-paw support loosely mountedon said shaft, and a pawl carried thereby and adapted to rotate said shaft through said ratchet, said pawl support being connected to said rod.

7. In a device of the character described,

the combination of a sheet support, a 'shaft means connected with the shaft and said sheet support for automatically elevating the latter on rotation of the shaft, a pawl support loosel)7 mounted on the shaft, a `pawl on the pawl support, a fixed ratchet on said shaft and adapted to be rotated by said pawl, a rod connected at one end to said pawl support, rotar means for reciprocating said ro a pin an slot connection between so n,

sas`

said rod and rotary means, and a spring arm bearing on said pin.

8. 'In a device of the character described, the combination of a sheet support, a shaft, means connected with the shaft and said sheet support for elevating the latter on rotation of the shaft, means for rotatng'the shaft including arod, a pawl and pawl support mounted on said shaft, and rotary means for reciprocating the rod through a pin and slot connection, said rod having a spring arm integrally formed therewith and bearing on said pin.

9. In a device of the character described,

the combination of a rotary member, a pin 15 carried thereby, a rod provided at one end with an elongated 4slot in which said pin engages, said rod havingv a springarm carried thereby and engagin said pin, shaft rotating elements connecte to the other end 20 of said rod, a sheet support, and connections between said sheet support and said shaft for elevating the sheet support on rotation ofthe shaft.

In testimony whereof I have signed this 25 specification.

CARL E. oHmsToPHEL. 

